Short term arterial remodelling in the aortae of cholesterol fed New Zealand white rabbits shown in vivo by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging - implications for human pathology.

High-resolution, non-invasive imaging methods are required to monitor progression and regression of atherosclerotic plaques. We investigated the use of MRI to measure changes in plaque volume and vessel remodelling during progression and regression of atherosclerosis in New Zealand White rabbits. Atherosclerotic lesions were induced in the abdominal aorta by balloon injury and cholesterol feeding. MR images (2D) of the abdominal aorta were acquired with cardiac and respiratory gating using a fast spin echo sequence with and without fat-suppression. In an initial study on rabbits treated for 30 weeks we imaged the aortae with a spatial resolution of 250x250 micrometers with a slice thickness of 2 mm and achieved a close correlation between MRI-derived measurements and those made on perfusion pressure-fixed histological sections (r(1) = 0.83, slope p(1) < 0.01). We subsequently imaged 18 rabbits before and periodically during 12 weeks of cholesterol feeding (progression) followed by 12 weeks on normal diet (regression). Aortic wall (atherosclerotic lesion) volume increased significantly during progression and decreased during regression. In contrast, lumen volume increased during progression and did not change during regression. In conclusion, this study confirms that non-invasive, high-resolution MRI can be used to monitor progression and regression of atherosclerosis, each within 3 months and shows, for the first time in a short-term model, that positive remodelling occurs early during progression and persists through regression of atherosclerotic lesions.

The relationship between motor deficit and hemisphere activation balance after stroke: A 3T fMRI study.

Functional imaging during movement of the hand affected by a stroke has shown excess activation of the contralesional motor network, implying less physiological hemisphere activation balance. Although this may be adaptive, the relationship between the severity of motor deficit and the hemisphere activation balance for the four major cortical motor areas has not been systematically studied. We prospectively studied 19 right-handed patients with first-ever stroke (age range 61+/-10 years) in the stable phase of recovery (>3 months after onset), using auditory-paced index-thumb (IT) tapping of the affected hand at 1.25 Hz as the fMRI paradigm. The hemisphere activation balance for the primary motor (M1), primary somatosensory (S1), supplementary motor (SMA) and dorsal premotor (PMd) areas was measured by a modified weighted laterality index (wLI), and correlations with motor performance (assessed by the affected/unaffected ratio of maximum IT taps in 15 s, termed IT-R) were computed. There were statistically significant negative correlations between IT-R and the wLI for M1 and S1, such that the more the hemispheric balance shifted contralesionally, the worse the performance. Furthermore, worse performance was related to a greater amount of contralesional, but not ipsilesional, activation. No significant correlation between IT-R and the wLI was obtained for the SMA and PMd, which functionally have stronger bilateral organization. These findings suggest that the degree of recovery of fine finger motion after stroke is determined by the extent to which activation balance in the primary sensory motor areas--where most corticospinal fibers originate--departs from normality. This observation may have implications for therapy.